Prof. Erich Runge, Head of the Group of Theoretical Physics I and Director of the Institute of Physics at TU Ilmenau, has been elected spokesman of the Conference of Physics Departments (KFP), which bundles the interests of all university physics departments regarding questions of teaching and study organization. Prof. Runge also represents the area of 'Education and Young Scientists' on the board of the German Physical Society (DPG), to which he was elected three months earlier.
As a focus of his work in DPG and KFP, Prof. Runge has chosen the area of IT skills, programming, data and AI in physics studies. In a Germany-wide survey, the current situation is to be recorded and summarized in the form of a white paper with best-practice examples and model curricula for this area. This is being done in collaboration with the NFDI consortium FAIRmat. Runge sees a huge challenge for all the natural sciences in the lack of young talent at all levels, from high school students to ambitious young researchers who want to be at the forefront worldwide:
Physics means understanding the material world. That can - and should - be fun for every child and young person. That's why I want to help improve physics courses, especially for teachers. Those who have not experienced what a great physics teacher can do may have experienced the opposite and thus understand what I am talking about.
Prof. Runge has been closely associated with the DPG and the KFP for many years through active participation. For example, as speaker of the DPG Condensed Matter Section, he chaired several major spring meetings and worked intensively on the KFP study on doctoral studies in physics.
Erich Runge studied physics in Frankfurt am Main and received his PhD from the TU Darmstadt in 1990 with a dissertation written at the MPI for Solid State Research. His path led him via Harvard University, Humboldt University in Berlin and the MPI for the Physics of Complex Systems to Ilmenau in 2004. With his research group, he investigates a broad range of topics from quantum mechanical entanglement of spatially inhomogeneous many-particle systems to direct solar water splitting for the production of green hydrogen and the development of a micropump together with local companies. Recently, the work on nano-optics of gold sponges together with the Group of Materials for Electrical Engineering and Electronics has received special international attention.
Contact
Prof. Erich Runge
Head of the Group of Theoretical Physics 1